


Rosemary and Salt

by polyphaga



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Earwax, M/M, ear cleaning, i am.... disgusted, reading in bed, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 05:55:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5773897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyphaga/pseuds/polyphaga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>LOVELY EVENING WITH THE BOYS. Late-80s post-TPP chillin. I'm sorry. Reading in bed together and ear stuff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rosemary and Salt

Saturday evening, the point in the week when international business tended to let up a bit and the lack of open offices or mail service usually meant Kaz could take a chunk out of the endless pile of paperwork on his desk without another pile of equal size instantly replacing it. On days when this worked out, he liked to take a few hours to himself, the only real relaxation he affords himself regularly. In his room he relaxes on the bed, one of the mixtapes from one of the hundreds of bases Venom'd raided by now playing at a low volume, smoking and reading. Reading was a pleasure he’d let slip over the past few years, it’s hard to comfortably turn the pages of a thick paperback with only one hand, after all, but since he’d accepted Venom’s persistent suggestion of getting fitted for a prosthetic like his, Kaz’s beloved old habit bloomed again with a vengeance.

Right now, he’s furrowing his brow, propped up on his elbows and frowning at an original language copy of _Don Quixote_ , a gift from V as a reward for relearning his neglected Spanish back up to a rudimentary level. Maybe ten years ago this would have been no problem, but now it feels like a puzzle, working each sentence together. Still, in a strange way it’s satisfying. He’s so engrossed that a gentle knock at the door makes him jump. It has to be Venom though, no one else on base would be bold enough to bother Kaz on a Saturday evening unless it was a dire emergency.

“Come in.”

Kaz hears the careful footsteps he instantly recognizes crossing the wooden floor behind him, a slight shuffling as boots are kicked off. He takes one more drag off the kiseru and taps the spent contents into the ashtray on his bedside table, pretending not to notice until he feels the comfortable weight and warmth of V’s arm draping over his shoulder as the man climbs onto the bed next to him. V gently nuzzles at Kaz’s cheek before turning his attention to the book.

“How’s it going?”

“Not bad, still makes me feel a little stupid sometimes though.”

“You’re doing fine, what part are you at?”

“Uh… I think they’re staying with some goatherds now.”

“Mmm, this bit. Want me to read to the end of the chapter for you?”

Kaz sighs in mock resistance before letting himself lean into V as he moves the book over between them. 

“If you like.” He doesn’t crane his neck to see Venom’s face in their position, but can tell he’s probably beaming. Venom leans in closer to Kaz’s ear, and it takes immense self-restraint for him not to let off a smitten sigh as he feels the warm breath, hears that familiar voice.

“Tell me if there’s any words you don’t know.”

“Mmhm.”

“No entendían los cabreros aquella jerigonza de escuderos y de caballeros andantes, y no hacían otra cosa que comer y callar…”

Kaz listens happily, feeling the vibrations of Venom’s deep voice where their ribs are up against each other, only half paying attention to the story. He lets his eyes drift shut for what he swears will be just a second, but his head begins to bob to the side as well, and he doesn’t notice when Venom reaches the end of the chapter and gently closes the book. In fact, he only snaps out of the trance when he feels a soft fuzzball stroking his cheek.

“What’s that?” Kaz opens his eyes, turning towards Venom, and is lightly jabbed in the cheek with a thin wooden stick. He senses something familiar. Venom pulls what he was fiddling with away from Kaz’s face. 

“Sorry, it’s just uh. Something a new recruit gave me.”

“Hey,” Kaz is suddenly interested, plucking the object from Venom’s hand. “This looks like… a Japanese ear pick. I haven’t seen one of these in years. Who had this?”

“Dragonfly. Which is strange, he’s European, but I guess for whatever reason he was there before he joined up with us. Crazy about it. Bought a whole box of them before he left. He just handed me one when I mentioned that you grew up in Japan. He says it’s a common thing for families… but…” Venom pauses, absentmindedly tapping his chin with the scoop end of the stick. “If it’s a family thing, and he was just passing through...”

Kaz blushes a bit, though he has to admit the other man’s naivete is charming. 

“Boss, there’s also uh… parlors where you can get a cute girl to do it for you…”

Venom exhales a quick guffaw. 

“Well, that explains it. Sorry if that was a weird thing to bring up then.” He reaches over to take the pick back from Kaz, unzipping whatever pocket on his trousers that he’d kept it in.

“It’s not, I mean… My mother used to clean my ears that way. It’s nice. I miss it sometimes.”

“Could I try it then? You lay your head on my lap, right?” Kaz only gives an uncertain grimace in response. “I was a doctor, Kaz, I know better than to just jab your eardrums.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Kaz turns himself on the bed as Venom sits up with his back against the headboard, folding his knees beneath him. He pulls over one of Kaz’s pillows to cover his lap.

“You’ve been trying so hard with the Spanish, I wanted to do something for you,” Venom says as Kaz slides his head up onto the pillows, facing away. Once he’s comfortable, Venom gently strokes his blonde hair, tucking it behind his ear. Kaz shivers, feeling his cheeks heat up at such a tender gesture. 

“You’re always doing things for me.”

Venom smiles, carefully moving Kaz’s good arm to his knee. 

“Give me a squeeze if I use too much pressure.”

“Yeah.”

Kaz hadn’t really thought about getting his ears cleaned in a while. Sure, he tried to towel them off or maybe get a q-tip in there occasionally if he remembered, but this is something completely different. Venom is so careful, running the pick along the walls of his ear canal in a way that sends waves of relaxation along his whole body. Kaz can feel a cool damp spot form where the corner of his mouth touches the pillow, and realizes the vulnerability, the unorthodox pleasure of having his ears cleaned by his partner is so good he's started drooling. Feeling the occasional lump of wax dislodge finds him sighing almost uncontrollably in the short breaks where V wipes the contents of the tiny spoon onto his fatigues before getting back to work. Finally, he traces every ridge of his outer ear with the downy end of the pick, then leans down to whisper close to Kaz’s ear again.

“Other side now, roll over.”

“Mm.” Drowsy with total relaxation now, Kaz rolls in closer to Venom, who brushes his hair back behind his ear again before repeating the process. Kaz feels his face going hot as he realizes the position he’s in, nose right over Venom’s crotch, staring at his stomach while V is hunched over him, gingerly resting a forearm across his neck as he works. Venom’s heat and musky smell is all around him, while he’s prodding at such a delicate spot with a wooden stick, yet Kaz feels totally calm and safe like this. It’s nostalgic, but also something else. 

V works loose a particularly stubborn bit of wax, and it feels so good in such a weird, visceral way that Kaz’s sigh turns into a soft moan, but he tries to swallow it, quickly biting his lip. Venom peeks down at him.

“Too rough?”

“No… it’s good.”

Venom gives him a slight smirk before looking up and getting back to work. He takes a few more cautious swipes along the inner ear before running the pom-pom along the outside again. He sets the pick over on the bedside table after wiping it off, then leans down to plant a chaste kiss on Kaz’s cheek before sliding his back down the headboard a bit, taking a more relaxed pose. He pulls his XO up onto his chest, who seems to be shuddering with bliss in his arms.

“You’ll have to do that to me sometime. Is it really that good?”

“Mm. Well, I mean, you’re really good at it, gentle.” Kaz goes redder as he realizes how husky and downright sensual his voice comes out. He takes a moment to clear his throat, trying to regain his normal tone. “So what now?”

Venom reaches around him to get the book off the nightstand. 

“How about you read the next chapter for me?”

“Boss! Come on, I can’t concentrate on difficult stuff after _that_.”

“Hey, part of becoming fluent in a language is being able to use it in any situation, right?” Venom grins, setting the book into Kaz’s hands. Kaz tries to remember how to say “shut up” in the other's native tongue but he can’t even pull something as simple as that out of his pleasantly clouded brain. He sighs, and starts thumbing through the pages, taking his time to find where they left off.

**Author's Note:**

> They're reading from chapter 11 of Don Quixote if you really have to know. Anyways. This is my garbage.


End file.
